


The Adventures of Roger and Barney

by pure1magination



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Pirates, Bedtime Stories, Comfort, Dragons, Fic within a Fic, Friendship/Love, Kid Fic, Mermaids, Pirates, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 10:03:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2424623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pure1magination/pseuds/pure1magination
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve was small and used to get sick all the time, Bucky discovered he had a talent for telling stories.</p><p>contains an AU in which Steve and Bucky are pirates, as told by Bucky</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Bucky is about nine or ten years old, and Steve is seven or eight.

Steve was shivering. Not unusual, considering it was late November, but Sarah knew it was more than just the cold making her little boy shake. "Here, have some soup." She offered him a bowl.

"'m not hungry, ma," he complained, teeth chattering.

"Let me feel your forehead." She leaned over him. Steve complied.

Sarah gently aligned the back of her hand with Steve's pale, sweaty forehead. He was hot to the touch. She drew back her hand and sighed. "Oh Steve... Looks like you've caught a cold."

There was a knock on the door. Sarah lifted her head and turned. "Come in."

Steve's best friend, James "Bucky" Barnes, opened the door, sending a gust of cold sleet in with him. He closed the door, halting the noise. He was wet from head to toe.

"Bucky!" Sarah admonished. "Why weren't you wearing a raincoat?"

Bucky shrugged and kicked off his shoes. "Is Steve okay?" Steve hadn't been in school today.

Steve coughed.

"He's going to be all right, Bucky, it's just a little cold."

Bucky snorted. "With Steve, it's never a 'little cold.'" He made to sit next to Steve on the couch, but Sarah stopped him.

"Go take off those wet clothes. I'll find you something warm and dry to wear."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Yes  _ma."_ Bucky adored Sarah Rogers. He thought she was just about the prettiest woman he'd ever seen, and the nicest, and the smartest. But sometimes, she was impossible. Just like her son.

"I mean it, Bucky," she warned as she walked out of the small living room down the hallway to her small bedroom. Steve's clothes were much too small for Bucky, despite them being only a couple years apart.

Bucky followed her, muttering and making silly faces at Steve as he went.

Steve laughed, which turned into a gravelly cough.

Every time Steve coughed like that, it felt like some bully was jabbing Bucky in the gut with an icicle. He caught up to Sarah in her room; she was holding out a clean pair of scrubs. "Put these on." She left the room and closed the door for privacy.

Bucky shucked off his soaked clothes, underwear an' all, and put on Sarah Rogers' scrubs. They were warm and soft and felt like a hug. His own ma was always so busy with one baby or another, Bucky felt like he kinda fell by the wayside. Not that his mom didn't love him, it's just the babies needed so much attention, sometimes she forgot Bucky needs it too. 

He emerged from her bedroom and bounded back towards where Steve was on the couch, fighting down some medicine that made him scrunch up his face in distaste. Sarah insistently spooned it into his mouth until he swallowed. "There," she said, capping the bottle. "That should help with the cough."

Bucky fidgeted with his fingers, wanting to ask if Steve was okay, but afraid, as always, that Sarah was glazing over things and that Steve was really a lot worse off than she let on.

Sarah glanced up at Bucky. "Well, he's not eating," she said with a small sigh. "I'll bring him a glass of water and make him some broth. Could you take him to his bedroom?"

Bucky nodded. "Sure thing ma'am." He tugged at Steve's hands. "C'mon Stevie. Upsy-daisy. We gotta get you to bed."

Steve groaned.

"Come on," Bucky repeated, tugging harder.

"I'm  _fine_ , Buck. I can get there myself..."

"Well then why don'tcha get off the couch an' prove it?" He dropped Steve's hands and placed his own hands defiantly on his hips. He raised his eyebrows and waited.

Steve stubbornly pushed himself to his feet and started shuffling to his bedroom, swaying a bit from dizziness.

Bucky followed close behind, ready to catch him at any second.

Once Steve was safely in his bedroom, he climbed shakily into his bed and scooted over to leave room for Bucky. The room was small and dark, dominated on one side by a paint-chipped radiator that made all sorts of unsettling gurgling noises and never seemed to warm the room up proper. His floor was bare, his dresser small, his bedsheets worn and thin. Bucky climbed into bed next to him and wrapped himself around Steve for warmth.

Steve immediately stopped shivering. "Aren't you afraid you're gonna get sick too?"

"'Course not," Bucky said into Steve's soft sweat-slicked hair. "I never get sick."

The rain pattered the window insistently. There was a leak in the seam somewhere, so the room had a slight draft and if you listened closely, you could hear the wind whistling through the crack.

Steve sneezed. Bucky patted his shoulder and said "God bless you!" For Bucky this was a force of habit. For Steve, it meant something.

"Tell me a story," Steve pleaded quietly. His head hurt.

"Sure, Stevie, anything for my best guy! Whaddoya wanna hear?"

Steve's moan served as a shrug.

Bucky snuggled closer. "All right... how about... an adventure story?"

Steve gave his silent assent.

Bucky smiled. "What kinda adventure story you want? Pirates? Cowboys & Indians? Gangsters? A detective? Explorers?"

Steve remained silent; they all sounded good to him.

Bucky sensed this. "All right, well, I'm in the mood for a pirate story so I'm gonna tell that one." Bucky silently checked with Steve to make sure this was okay. Steve's sweaty, bony little body settled comfortably against his own sun-ripened frame. He was staring at the streaks left behind by the water droplets colliding with the gray, misty window. Bucky took this comfortable silence as consent.

"Once upon a time, there was two guys. One of 'em was tall an' handsome an' had blue eyes an' brown hair. He was strong and smart and funny- he could get any dame he wanted, but he didn't, 'cause dames are gross."

Steve laughed quietly.

Bucky grinned and went on. "His name was Barney. But if you ever teased him about his name, he'd knock you upside the head." Bucky demonstrated by punching the air in front of Steve. "Barney was first mate on a pirate ship. His captain was even taller, and bigger, and handsomer. He had blond hair that turned gold in the sunlight, and the prettiest blue eyes anyone had ever seen. He was so handsome, and so smart and strong and brave, everyone wanted to be him. But he didn't have a dame either, on account a' he was a pirate an' all, and pirates don't need dames." Bucky blushed a little and glanced at the back of Steve's head. "His name was Roger." He went on before Steve could react. "Roger was the best captain anyone could think of. He could sail through any storm, find any port even without a compass. Any time their ship got into a fight with another ship, Captain Roger would beat all the guys on the other ship, no problem. He could do it with his hand tied behind his back, if he had to. But he never had to fight alone, 'cause he had Barney."

Steve had closed his eyes and was imagining the story.

"-And the rest of the crew, of course. But Captain Roger and First Mate Barney grew up together, before they became pirates, so they knew they could make it through anything together, even without the crew. 'Cause back when they first started out, they was all each other had." Bucky stared out the window for a moment, thinking. The buildings across the street were blurred. "One day, they landed on this island. They had this map they won from some other pirates- the sword fights went on for what felt like forever, silver blades flashing in the sun, clanging against each other over and over until the other guys were stabbed in the shoulder, or in the leg. Nothing that would kill 'em." Steve didn't like it when people died in his stories; Bucky had learned this early on. "Just enough to wound 'em. So at last their captain handed Captain Roger a map, promised there was lots of buried treasure there, said he got it from some other pirates who got it from some other pirates. So the treasure was old. The map was all brown and weathered--" Lightning flashed outside, quickly followed by a rumble of thunder. "An' it wouldn't stay flat once they unrolled it. Captain Roger had to pin it to a cork board so he an' Barney could read it. They were the only two who saw the map.

"By the time they landed on the island, they had it memorized. Forty paces north; they trudged along the sandy beach, boots gettin' buried in the sand with every step. -Then a hundred an' eight paces west-by-northwest. They had to go through this jungle. All sortsa weird sounds echoed all around them through the dense green foliage. Birds an' bugs an' who knows what else. Some of the pirates were scared. Even Barney was a little scared. But not Captain Roger. He cut through the vines in their path with his sword. He helped Barney climb over a coupla large rocks covered in moss that the resta' the crew slipped on. He'd a' helped 'em all, but he was busy leading the way, so they had to help each other." Bucky had to add this because he didn't want Captain Roger to seem mean in any way. Steve seemed to understand.

Bucky continued, "Once they were deep in the heart of the jungle, an arrow flew out of nowhere an' hit Barney in the arm. Captain Roger shouted 'Get down!' an' all the rest of his crew threw themselves to the ground as he pulled Barney down with him. Several more arrows flew over their heads an' hit the trees behind 'em. The Captain looked an' noticed that the arrows all had colored feathers sticking out of 'em. 'Cannibals,' he said, face pale. Barney's eyes went all wide. 'Oh no,' he said, clutching at his arm. 'Don't worry,' Captain Roger said, 'We're gonna make it out of this alive.'"

Steve was completely enthralled.

Bucky smiled to himself and continued, "The crew could hear footsteps coming closer. 'Hold your ground!' Captain Roger said. His crew stayed put, but they were all hugging each other, scared. 'You're gonna be okay,' he promised Barney, who just nodded his head an' looked at the Captain with complete trust. If there was anyone who could get them outta this, it was the Captain. 

"A buncha darker-skinned people wearing loincloths made outta wild animals, with white paint all over their bodies in swirly shapes and lines, some of 'em with bones through their noses or teeth around their necks, came to a stop near the Captain and his crew an' shook their spears at them. They said something in a language none of 'em understood, except the Captain. He was frowning at them as he explained to Barney, 'They said we've trespassed on sacred ground.' Barney's eyes got all wide again.

"They gestured and said some more weird stuff that only the Captain understood until the Captain commanded his crew 'On your feet!' an' everyone stood up. The cannibals looked pleased with this and surrounded them, spears aimed at the pirates. 'It's gonna be okay,' Roger said really quietly to Barney so that no one else could hear.

"The cannibals led them through the forest, away from the path the Captain and his First Mate had memorized from the map, deep into the heart of the jungle. The animal noises they heard were even bigger an' scarier. One time Barney even saw a  _jaguar!_ But even the jaguar seemed scared a' the cannibals- one of 'em was wearing a jaguar pelt. 

"They came to a stop inside a clearing with a buncha bamboo shacks and a stone fire pit in the middle. There was a huge stone altar on one side of the clearing, stained with lots of blood from all the sacrifices that took place on it. The crew started shaking. Barney was scared too, but he looked at Captain Roger, an' his face was set and serious. He didn't look scared. He looked determined. An' that was all Barney needed not to be scared anymore. -Well, he was still scared, I mean, who wouldn't be? But he wasn't shaking like the other guys.

"A guy stepped out of one of the huts. He was really tall an' ugly looking, with all sorts of bones sticking out of his nose and his ears, and so many teeth around his neck he had to wear five necklaces to hold 'em all. He was also wearing a jaguar pelt like a cape-- not just a scrap of material like the other guys, you could really tell it was a jaguar 'cause the head was still there an' everything. Barney noticed right about then that there was something  _off_ about the huts. They weren't bamboo after all. They were made a'  _human bones._ "

Steve gasped.

"Captain Roger noticed this too. It made him angry. He exchanged this really intense conversation with the chief in the cannibals' native language. Barney wasn't sure what exactly they were sayin' but they both looked pretty angry. Captain Roger was stunning in the sunlight, all sharp snapping words and flashing blue eyes, firm an' confident. The cannibal chief was just as intimidating, but in a darker way, bones moving when he talked. He spit at the ground a few times; his spit stank an' it looked like it contained traces of blood. Finally, the cannibal belly-laughed and asked Captain Roger a question. Captain Roger had no response.

"'What? What did he say?' Barney asked. Captain Roger was frowning. 'He said there is no treasure.'

"'What?!'

"'The treasure was found long ago, by the cannibals. They use the map to lure people here so they can eat them.'

"Barney was quiet for a minute, thinkin' about this. 'I don't see any gold. Do you?'

"Captain Roger frowned and looked around. 'No...' he said.

"'So if they already found the treasure.. how come they don't have it?'

"Captain Roger was quiet for a minute. Then he said some more stuff to the cannibal chief, who laughed at him some more. Barney could tell that whatever he was sayin', he was insulting the Captain, an' he wanted to punch him right then an' there, injured arm or not. But he didn't. 'Cause he knew Captain Roger could handle it.

"Finally, the cannibal chief pointed towards a distant mountain and said something else. The cannibals had their spears pointed at the crew still. They started movin' the crew towards the jungle. 'What did he say?' Barney asked.

"'He said he's going to lead us to the treasure.'

"'That lying bastard! So they  _do_ still have it!'

"'Not so fast, Barney-- he said if we make it out of the cave alive, the treasure is all ours.'

"'Well that doesn't sound very promising.'

"'No, Barney. It doesn't.' --How you doin', Stevie?"

Steve blinked as though breaking out of a trance. "Why'd you stop?"

"Just makin' sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, Buck. Keep going."

"You sure? 'Cause you gotta stop me if this gets too intense."

"Bucky I'm  _fine,"_ Steve growled. The growl turned into a cough. Not as nasty-sounding as his earlier ones though, thanks to the medicine.

"All right," Bucky drawled, "If you're sure..."

Steve kicked Bucky in the shin.

"Ow! Okay okay, I'll keep going! Now where was I.."

"The mountain, Buck! The cannibals were leading the pirates to the mountain!"

"Oh yeah." Bucky cleared his throat and launched back into his storytelling voice. "The cannibals led the pirates to a huge cave in the side of the mountain, with rock formations that looked like big sharp teeth. Inside a' the cave was dark. The cannibals poked and prodded the pirates inside the cave, but they stayed outside and guarded the entrance. The pirates figured it must be pretty bad in there if the  _cannibals_ wouldn't go. Lucky enough, though, the pirates planned ahead so they all had torches. They just needed to light 'em. Now, Captain Roger bein' all smart like he was, said 'Don't light all the torches at once. Just a few at a time. Who knows how long we'll be in here.' His deep, handsome voice echoed offa the cave walls and made everyone feel a little bit more secure. They all listened to him and did just like he said.

"Luckily, this was exactly the same cave entrance he an' Barney had memorized from their map. So they were able to find their way through the cave, no problem. But what it didn't say on the map was the cave was  _booby-trapped!_ _"_

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes." Bucky nodded. "The cave was booby-trapped. At first they thought it was kinda weird that all a' the sudden, there was this big open space. Captain Roger held his men back, an arm protectively across Barney's chest. He picked up a rock and skipped it across the clearing. There was this creak, and a whoosh of air, and this spiky log on a chain suddenly came swinging down towards them. They were standing far back enough that it just missed them. They waited til it stopped swinging an' Cap tossed another rock, further ahead this time. A buncha arrows flew outta both sides of the wall. They walked over the spiky log, which was just hanging there now. But Captain Roger had a bad feeling about the arrows. He tossed another rock. More arrows flew from both sides a' the walls. He threw another rock. More arrows. And anther. More arrows. 'We're gonna have to detect a pattern,' he muttered.

"Luckily, Barney was really good at detecting patterns. So every time the Captain threw another rock, Barney watched the arrows really closely. Until he turned and nodded sharply to the Captain. 'I got it.' He explained the pattern of the arrows, pointing to where they came out in which order, too fast for the others to keep track of. The Captain repeated the information to his crew until they were all nodding. 'Ready...?' Captain Roger said, poised to run. Barney posed next to him, also ready. 'And... GO!' Captain Roger and his crew followed Barney's instructions and managed to dodge almost all of the arrows. One of them almost hit the Captain though, so Barney pushed him out of the way and he got hit with it instead.

"'I'm fine!' he protested when Captain Roger looked at him with fear in his eyes. 'Keep going!' Barney insisted.

"They kept going, deeper into the cave, their torches starting to burn low. They had to light some other ones. They made it past a bottomless pit, a room fulla snakes, a wrecking ball, and a rockslide. Captain Roger and First Mate Barney outsmarted every obstacle. But Barney was startin' to slow down. He looked a little pale in the torch light; under his eyes was startin' to look purple. Captain Roger looked at him with worry but Barney insisted he was fine. They were so close to the treasure they could smell it.

"'Barney, we should really tend to those wounds. That's twice today you've been struck with an arrow.'

"'Don't worry about it, I'll be fine.' Barney's voice was firm with conviction, but he was startin' to sound a little weak.

"'I'm serious, Barney, you're hurt real bad!'

"Barney rolled his eyes. 'I've had worse. Keep going!' They did keep going. And they found the place where the treasure was supposed to be. Except instead of a treasure, there was just this rolled-up piece a' paper sitting on a rock. Barney grabbed it and unrolled it. 'Another map! It's another stinkin' treasure map!'

"'Is it on the island?'

"'No! I have no idea what island this is, what--' He was interrupted by a sound. A deep, rumbling sound.

"'Another rockslide?' one of the crew members asked.

"'Well I sure as hell ain't stickin' around to find out!' Barney said. They ran out of the cave and into the sunlight. Just after they landed safely on the greenery, the cave entrance collapsed behind 'em. Barney and Captain Roger gave each other a look and started laughing. They did it! They made it out of the cave alive, and they had a treasure map! The cannibals were sure to let them go, right?

"Suddenly Barney clutched at his shoulder and gasped. Captain Roger stopped laughing. He frowned and went over to his friend to see what was wrong with his shoulder. Right where the second arrow had struck, the skin was all purple and inflamed. 'It's poisoned!'

"His crew members milled about in panic, checking themselves to see if they'd been scraped by any of the arrows.

"'Stop dancing around, you fools! Get me some antidote!' But none of them could figure out what the antidote was. None of them recognized the poison, not even Captain Roger. Barney was getting worse. He was pale and sweaty and shaking. His lips were turning blue. Captain Roger leaned over his friend and held his face. 'You're gonna be okay, Barney. I swear you're gonna be okay.' Barney just nodded; his teeth were chattering too hard for him to speak.

"'We have no choice,' Captain Roger said, standing. 'We have to return to the cannibal king.'

"The crew all protested, eyes wide, scared. But they knew Barney was the most important person in the world to Captain Roger. He was his best friend. Captain Roger would do anything for him. And the feeling was very mutual. So even though they were scared, even though they knew it might mean they were gonna die, they carried Barney back to the village of the cannibal king.

"The cannibals were surprised to see the pirates again. They asked Captain Roger why he'd returned. He explained, pointing at Barney's shoulder, that his First Mate had been injured and he needed an antidote. The cannibals all looked at each other, kind of confused. They didn't know the antidote either. Then one of 'em went off and retrieved the Medicine Man. If you thought the chief looked scary, you shoulda seen  _this_ guy. He was just about the oldest, ugliest man you can imagine. He was scarred all over, had a split lip and missing teeth, walked with a hunch in his back, one foot dragging behind him.

"He leaned over Barney and gave instructions to a group of cannibals. They nodded and rushed off into the jungle.

"Barney's nose wrinkled at the stench. The guy smelled like morning breath and rotting meat and chewing tobacco, all rolled into one. He also smelled like he hadn't bathed in weeks. But Captain Roger didn't care how badly the cannibal man stank. If he was going to save Barney, he was A-OK in his book.

"The group of cannibals came back with a buncha weird lookin' plants. The medicine man nodded and took the plants off to his hut.

"'How long until the medicine is ready?' Captain Roger asked the chief. The chief did not know.

"Meanwhile Barney lay shivering in the Captain's arms. He started hallucinating, sayin' real crazy things about cows on the moon and mermaids and stuff. Captain Roger was terrified. He held Barney close, just like I'm holdin' you right now, an' tried to stop his shivering.

"He got  _real_ worried when Barney  _did_ stop shivering. His face was all glazed over, like he wasn't really there anymore. Captain Roger started saying his name over an' over. 'Barney?! Barney! Barney come on, stay with me Barney! Barney, don't go! Barney..!'

"The medicine man came back and poured a potion into Barney's mouth and made him swallow it, but Barney still looked exactly the same, eyes glazed over, face blank, lips blue. Captain Roger hugged him tighter and started crying.

"An' that's when Barney woke up. He wasn't really asleep, he'd just been havin' a fever-dream. He came back to himself an' noticed Captain Rogers hugging him an' crying an' he hugged him back real firm, like this--" Bucky nuzzled Steve's neck and held him close. "--And he said 'It's all right. I'm okay.' And they made it off the island, an' the cannibals were true to their word an' let them go, an' they set off in search of their new treasure."

Steve relaxed and had started drifting off. Bucky held him like that until he was fast asleep.

Bucky stared at the rain pelting the window. He thought about the story he'd just told, about how their roles had switched at the end. "There's something else Captain Roger said to Barney," he said quietly enough not to wake Steve. "What really woke him up was Captain Roger saying, 'You can't die, Barney. I can't live without you.' But Barney was still unconscious an' didn't hear 'im." Bucky kissed Steve's sweaty forehead and settled in next to him until he, too, fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the pirate saga continues

Bucky had to go to school the next day. He hated having to leave Steve, but Sarah assured him that Steve would be just fine for a few hours without them. She had to go to work.

It was another cold, rainy day. Slush was building up on the streets in dirty piles and puddles. Bucky trudged through the slush on his way back to Steve’s house, school day ended. He showed up wet and cold again. Sarah would have reprimanded him, had she been present, but she was still at work. Bucky heard Steve coughing in his bedroom.

He set down his things and went straight to Steve. “Stevie? You okay?”

Steve coughed some more. “Bucky,” he said weakly.

Both Bucky and Steve hated it when Steve sounded like this. “You need some medicine, Stevie?”

Steve coughed again. He sounded like he was coughing stuff up. Bucky wanted to cry. He wanted to punch the illness right in the face until it left Stevie alone. He hated every illness that ever existed ‘cause of the way they made Steve feel.

“I’ll get you some medicine,” Bucky said before dashing out of the room. He knew where Steve’s ma kept the cough syrup. It tasted nasty and it smelled just as bad, but it also made it so Steve didn’t hack so hard. He fetched the bottle and a spoon and brought it back to Stevie. “Shh, I got you, Stevie. Here you go.” He sat next to Steve on the bed and poured some medicine into the spoon. “Yer gonna be okay, just hang on.” He held the back of Steve’s head and opened his mouth, indicating that Steve should do the same. Steve started coughing again. Bucky sat closer, carefully balancing the spoon as he held Steve, forgetting that his clothes were cold and wet from the sleet and slush. Steve coughed against his shoulder. “Come on Stevie. You can do this. Just open yer mouth…”

Steve finished coughing and opened his mouth. Bucky fed him a spoonful of cough syrup. Steve made like he was about to start coughing again. “Oh no you don’t,” Bucky warned Steve’s cough. “Come on.” He plugged Steve’s nose, forcing him to swallow. Steve convulsed a bit and made a yucky face. But his coughing did stop.

Bucky’s furrowed eyebrows eased. “There you go,” he said soothingly. He capped the bottle and set it on the nightstand, then made like he was gonna hug Steve again.

Steve shoved him away. “Bucky, you’re c-cold,” Steve protested, teeth chattering.

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Bucky shucked off his wet clothes and climbed under the blanket with Steve. “Better?”

Steve was comforted by his friend’s body heat, even though he himself was shivering from fever. “Better,” he agreed, snuggling closer.

Bucky wrapped his body around Steve’s, maximizing their shared body heat. “How you feelin’ today, Stevie?”

“Better,” he lied.

Bucky squeezed Steve with his arms. “No yer not. Yer just as bad as yesterday.”

Steve didn’t argue because they both knew Bucky was right.

Sleet skittered across the window, covering it in ice. The view outside was super blurry. And the radiator was really quiet. “Radiator busted again?”

Steve shrugged. “It’s been quiet all day.”

Bucky snuggled as close as possible. “Guess I’d better keep you warm then.”

“Guess so.”

Neither boy objected to this notion in the slightest bit. Were they a bit older, and if anyone saw them cuddled close together like this- especially with Bucky in only his underwear- there would have been judgment and teasing. But fortunately Sarah understood, and she was the only one who ever saw them together like this. She never said anything about it, never even batted an eye. For all Steve and Bucky knew, this was totally normal behavior for two best friends. And who knows? Maybe without the judgment of society, it would be. Both boys are too young to be self-conscious about being nearly naked around each other, or about physical affection or sitting too close. It could almost be brotherly, except for the way that Bucky looks at Steve when he thinks no one’s looking. Sarah had seen that look before, and she knew it was pure adoration and love. She privately worried sometimes about what those feelings would grow into as they got older, and would worry more if not for the fact that Steve unabashedly looked at Bucky the same way, whether Bucky was looking or not.

But Sarah was off at work and not here to observe how the boys huddled close together against the cold, or the peace brought on by their position.

“Tell me a story?” Steve said.

“Sure thing, Stevie. Whaddoya wanna hear?”

Steve shrugged. “More pirates would be good.”

Bucky laughed. “More pirates? You wanna hear more about Captain Roger and First Mate Barney, ‘n how they search for more buried treasure?”

Steve nodded, eyes bright.

“All right. Let’s see.” Bucky settled into a more comfortable storytelling position, still holding Steve close. “They musta been sailing for a while, on account a’ they didn’t even know where the island _was._ Maybe they looked at a bigger map or something, found the island. That sound good to you, Stevie?”

Steve shrugged. “Whatever you want, Buck.” Steve didn’t want to make anything up. He just wanted to hear Bucky talk.

Bucky shrugged. “I’m just makin’ shit up.”

Steve frowned. “Don’t swear. An’ it’s real. You said ‘Once upon a time.’ That means it happened, so it’s real.”

Bucky felt Steve’s forehead. “You okay Stevie?”

“’m fine.”

“’Cause not every story that started with ‘Once upon a time’ actually happened y’know.”

“’Course it did. ‘s all real,” Steve insisted.

“You mean you believe in fairies and witches an’ stuff?”

“Don’t you?”

Bucky wasn’t sure he believed in anything. But he supposes the world might be a little prettier if he did. He shrugged. “Sure, it happened. It’s all true. I read it in a book somewhere. Just can’t remember this part.”

Steve seemed soothed by this.

Well, if Steve wanted to believe in fairies an’ mermaids an’ stuff, Bucky wasn’t about to stop him. He’d figure out it wasn’t real, just like he’d figure out Santa wasn’t real, none of that stuff was. But Bucky was older an’ maybe a little jaded. Let Steve keep his innocence a little longer. “Where was I… Oh yeah. Captain Roger an’ First Mate Barney searched a long time for the missing island. It wasn’t on any map; no one had ever heard of it. But if there was one thing Captain Roger was besides brave and strong, it was stubborn. He could be a real pain in the neck sometimes, insistin’ on stuff that First Mate Barney disagreed with or thought was silly, but Captain Roger was usually right, so First Mate Barney just learned to accept it.

“His stubbornness paid off though. After a lot of sailin’ and a lot of askin’ around, they finally found the island. And wouldn’t you know? It was right next door to the other one.”

Steve laughed; it was a wheezy little noise that squeezed Bucky’s heart and made him cuddle closer.

“To get there, though, they had to sail through all kinda stuff. First, there was this really shallow water, so shallow you could see right to the bottom. A buncha green seaweed waved all calm-like at the bottom, rippling and swaying under the waves like a grassy field in a spring breeze, except underwater. So it was even calmer an’ kinda dream-like. It woulda been real soothing if they weren’t in a pirate ship that was big an’ heavy ‘cause it was loaded down with treasure, an’ if they weren’t afraid a’ runnin’ aground in the shallow water with no way to move the ship.

“’Steady as she goes,’ Captain Roger called. The crew members slowed down the ship an’ watched the hilly sandbars underneath, all wavin’ with seaweed, as the shadow of their ship passed over them. Goin’ through the valleys wasn’t so bad, but every time they crested a hill, everybody seemed like they were holdin’ their breath.

“One o’ the sandbars was particularly high. First Mate Barney wasn’t sure they were gonna make it. Captain Roger indicated that they should keep going but Barney wasn’t sure. He looked at the Captain, eyes all wide an’ worried, but the Captain was starin’ straight ahead, all brave an’ determined like always. Barney swallowed as they approached the underwater hill.

“At first it seemed like everything was goin’ okay- they drifted over this hill just like they did the last one, an’ the one before that. But right around the middle, they all felt it: a gentle _scraaape_ -” Bucky ran his palm across the bedsheets to demonstrate “-as the bottom of the ship grazed the hill. Everyone froze. You could hear the sounda yer own breathing. Barney stared down into the water, all pale an’ scared. But Captain Roger, although he gripped the railing mighty tight, seemed not so much scared as trying to urge the ship on.

“They started to slow down a bit. But once the middle of the ship was over the top of the underwater hill, the sandbars started fading back down into the deep blue water an’ the ship’s bottom stopped scraping the seaweed an’ the sand underneath, and they started pickin’ up speed again.

“Captain Roger turned an’ gave Barney this smile as if to say _I-told-you-so_ , but Barney just punched him in the shoulder. ‘We shoulda got stuck, you know that right?’

“Captain Roger just gave more orders to his crew, all smug-like. They made it into this cove that was all rocky and shaped like a crescent. –You know, like the letter ‘C’.” He drew it in the air to demonstrate.

Steve knew what ‘crescent’ meant on account a’ the crescent moon his ma had pointed out to him before, looked like the Cheshire Cat’s smile from _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_. But he didn’t want to interrupt Bucky’s narrative flow, so he stayed quiet.

“Once they got into the cove, they heard this weird, echoey sound that sounded like someone singing. The crew looked around, getting’ all tense again. The cove was deep; they had to sail through it to get to a rocky channel, and then to a beach beyond that. The rest of the island was all rocky cliffs; this was the only place to put their ship. An’ the safest. But getting there was the hard part.

“The map had a picture of a fishtail in the cove, so the men had assumed there was some sorta monster lurking there. But what they found, none of them expected—Steve are you okay?!”

Steve had sat up suddenly. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Bucky moved out of the way and held up a bucket under Steve’s chin.

Steve looked into the bucket, put his chin over it, took a few breaths. The bucket smelled vaguely of the lemon cleaner his mom always used. The scent seemed to soothe him. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the headboard. “’m fine.”

“You sure?” Bucky held the bucket uncertainly.

Steve nodded, still looking pretty pale. “’m sure.”

Bucky examined him warily. “…All right, but ‘m gonna leave the bucket right here. Just holler if you need it, okay?”

“Okay.”

Bucky set the bucket on the nightstand, next to the cough syrup. He settled next to Steve, both sitting up now. “You need a glass a’ water or anything?”

Steve slowly shook his head ‘no,’ dizzy.

“All right,” Bucky conceded slowly. “But holler if you need anything, okay?”

“I will, Buck,” Steve replied quietly.

Bucky watched him, worried.

“Keep going,” Steve pleaded, eyes closed, brows drawn together above his slightly crooked nose.

Bucky loved Steve’s eyebrows. And Steve’s nose. And Steve’s everything. He scooched a little closer and continued. “All right. So, there was this huge fishtail on the map, right in the middle of the cove. ‘Is it a shark? I bet it’s a shark,’ said one crewmate. ‘No way,’ said another, ‘It’s definitely a whale.’ ‘Are you kiddin’?’ said a third. ‘It’s a dolphin!’

“Turns out they were all wrong. As they sailed into the cove, like I said, they heard that weird sound like someone was singin’. Sounded like a beautiful dame. No words, just an ‘Ah’ sound in different notes, dipping and swooping and rising again, like a bird, but slower. Haunting. Her voice was joined by a buncha other voices, one at a time, all females from the sounds of it, an’ harmonizing with each other, no words still, just ‘Ah’s like a bird in slow-motion. Except it started getting faster as they sailed farther into the cove.

“Once they were near the narrow part, they heard a splash. The singing started getting louder. An’ then allofa sudden, they saw ‘em— _mermaids!_ There were mermaids, all swimming about the lagoon an’ singin’ that eerie song. They had hair and eyes in all sortsa colors that ya usually only see on flowers, lotsa greens an’ purples an’ reds, some oranges an’ pinks.

“One o’ the mermaids was particularly beautiful. She had daffodil-yellow hair an’ forget-me-not blue eyes, an’ this pale skin like marble—”

Steve abruptly reached across Bucky and retched into the bucket.

Bucky patiently waited for Steve to stop hurling before rubbing his back and handing him a glass of water. “Feel better?”

Steve nodded, groaning, dizzy.

Worry twisted Bucky’s gut. But he tried not to show it. “I’m gonna dump the bucket out. I’ll be right back, all right, Stevie?”

Steve nodded again.

Bucky set off for the bathroom, teeth chattering because now that he was out from under the blanket and no longer next to his feverish friend, he discovered that the apartment was quite cold. He padded barefoot across the floor to the bathroom, dumped out the bucket, squirted a bit of lemon cleaner in there, and rinsed it out.

He brought back the bucket and a little cup with some mouthwash. “Here, Stevie, rinse yer mouth out an’ spit into this cup.”

Steve obeyed. Bucky disposed of the cup and curled up next to Steve again. “Feel better?”

“Yeah,” Steve managed weakly, still pale, face sweaty. Bucky wished Steve’s ma would come home.

“Yer gonna be okay, Stevie.”

Steve nodded weakly, eyes drifting shut.

“You want me to keep going?”

“Yeah.”

“All right. Where were we. –Oh yeah, in the cove. An’ First Mate Barney saw this mermaid with the yellow hair and the pretty blue eyes an’ he started leaning over the railing. ‘I gotta get to her!’ he said. ‘She looks like my long-lost lover!’ But Captain Roger held him back.

“’Pretty sure your lover wasn’t a mermaid, Barney.’

“’But she looks _just like her!’_ Barney tried to dive into the water but Captain Roger held him back. He heard a loud splash an’ realized the rest of his crew members were havin’ the same problem. ‘She looks just like my Rosalie!’ ‘She looks just like my Sandra!’

“’Hold your posts, men!’ the Captain bellowed. But the men didn’t wanna listen. The ship sailed through the cove unpiloted; the helmsman had gone overboard. ‘Goshdarnit men!’ the Captain cursed, taking the helm. Barney struggled an’ tried to get away. ‘Oh no you don’t!’ the Captain insisted. ‘You are staying right here with me!’

“They lost a few more men overboard, but the Captain managed to sail the ship through the cove with most of his men intact. It was scary sailin’ past the whirlpool in-between the high rocky cliffs, in that straitaway I mentioned. But the whirlpool was off to one side, so they got lucky.

“The pirate ship sailed on, till they were at the sandy beach. There was another mermaid there, sittin’ in the sand with her tail in the water lookin’ like she didn’t give the time a’ day that she was grounded. She looked at the Captain under these long eyelashes, an’ he was smitten. Barney got all tense next to him. The mermaid had chocolate-brown hair that fell down in waves, an’ it looked soft an’ like it probably smelled nice too. An’ she had these big blue eyes that you couldn’t help but stare into. She only had eyes for the Captain though. She was starin’ at him like she’d been waitin’ her whole life to see him, an’ now he was right where she wanted ‘im. ‘Hello,’ she called out, voice all low an’ creepy. Barney didn’t like her at all.

“’Hello,’ the Captain called back, voice all soft an’ like he’d been waitin’ for her too.

“’Feck off!’ shouted Barney. ‘Go find a guy mermaid or somethin’! Yer not even the same species!’

“The mermaid ignored Barney and kept staring at the Captain. ‘Won’t you save me?’ she pleaded. ‘I’m hurt.’

“Now, Captain Roger is just about the nicest guy around. He’d save anybody from anything if he could. So a beautiful dame tellin’ him she’s hurt? He may as well have seen an orphanage on fire for how fast he got outta that ship and waded towards that mermaid. ‘What seems to be the trouble?’ he asked.

“’My tail,’ she explained, pointing to her shimmery silver tail. ‘I’ve hurt my tail.’

“Captain Roger didn’t know a _thing_ about mermaid anatomy, an’ neither did anyone else, so he had no idea how to fix ‘er. He knelt down anyway and poked and prodded at it, trying to find exactly where her tail was hurt.

“’Oh it’s no use!’ she exclaimed, throwing herself down in the sand. ‘I’m going to be stuck here forever!’

“’Not on my watch,’ promised the Captain. Barney had nearly caught up to him at this point, angry that the Captain had left him behind like that. He caught up to them just as the mermaid was trying to pull the Captain in for a kiss an’ he saw her eyes gleam red, even though Captain Roger didn’t on account a’ his eyes bein’ closed an’ all, like you do when you’re gonna kiss someone, an’ Barney threw one a’ his boots at her head an’ knocked her out cold.

“’Wha’d you to that for?!’ the Captain protested. Barney just pointed to her glazed-over red eyes and her partially open mouth, which was full of razor-sharp teeth. ‘You wanted to kiss _that?’_

“The Captain looked ashamed. He stood up quickly and handed Barney back his boot. ‘Thanks, Barney.’

“’What are friends for?’

“The rest of the crew caught up an’ wanted to take a close look at the mermaid, but Barney urged them all on, further inland, away from the mermaid lagoon. –How you doin’, Stevie?”

Steve’s eyes were glazed over; he was staring into space. He blinked as though waking from a trance. “Why’d you stop?”

“’Cause I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Steve blinked again, eyes re-focusing. “’m okay.”

“You sure?” He felt Steve’s forehead. Steve was burning up.

“’m fine.”

Bucky really wished Sarah Rogers would get home.

“Please,” Steve pleaded. “Keep going.”

“…Okay,” Bucky said uncertainly. He really wanted to get Steve some fever medicine, but his ma kept that up high where neither boy could reach. He thought of getting a cold rag or something, but that would mean braving the cold apartment in his skivvies again, and he wasn’t even sure it would help. Steve always seemed to calm down when Bucky was talking, though, so Bucky thought for a moment and then continued. “At the edge a’ the beach there was more jungle. They heard all sortsa weird bird calls an’ monkeys an’ stuff, and not too far inland they found a babbling brook. Except it was _literally babbling._ No one could understand what it was saying, just this constant stream of syllables that didn’t seem to go together. It was really freaky, this man’s voice going on and on like that and coming from nowhere and everywhere, not downstream or upstream or at any part of the stream, just the whole brook was _babbling_.

“’I don’t like this,’ Barney said. The brook babbled on indifferently.

“’It’s weird,’ agreed Captain Roger. They followed the brook just like it said to on the map. By the time they walked away from it, everyone was gettin’ a headache and startin’ to wonder if they were goin’ crazy.

“Then they started getting attacked by some really huge birds. They were like, the size of horses!” He held out his arms really wide. “They were _big,_ and they were all bright colors, just like the mermaids! Bright pinks and oranges and greens and reds and purples and blues, every color of the rainbow, sometimes all on one bird! And they had these huge freaky beaks with lots of teeth in ‘em!

“But they didn’t try to kill anyone. Oh no- they just swooped down over an’ over, when the pirates were least expecting it, an’ made a really loud noise, like tires screeching! The pirates thought they were gonna go deaf!”

“Boys?” called Mrs. Rogers from down the hall.

“Sarah!” Bucky called from his spot next to Steve on Steve’s bed.

He heard Sarah’s light footsteps traversing the hall until she entered the room. She sat in front of Bucky and felt Steve’s forehead with the back of her hand. “Would you like some more fever medication?” she asked, eyebrows drawn.

“Yeah,” Steve said weakly, breath still smelling of mouthwash.

Sarah noticed this, and the bucket on the nightstand. “Did he throw up?” she asked Bucky.

“Yeah,” he responded, worried.

She stood, holding her forehead as though suddenly dizzy. “He’s going to be just fine,” she insisted before going off to fetch the fever medication.

Bucky held Steve while they waited. It kept Steve from shivering, like he did every time Bucky let go.

Sarah returned with the fever medication and administered it to Steve. He took it obediently.

Then Sarah felt Bucky’s forehead, too.

“Ma,” he complained. Sometimes he called her that when she was being fussy.

She checked his cheeks and his chest as well, resolute. “You’ve been with Steve since you got back home from school. Your parents wouldn’t be very happy if he got you sick, too.”

“My parents don’t care, they’ve got a baby.”

Sarah frowned. “Of course they care. Even more so, since they have a baby. Babies get sick very easily, you see.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “I won’t get the baby sick. I’m fine.”

Sarah withdrew her hand. “For now, you are.” She drew back abruptly and coughed into her elbow. “…I think I’d better leave you two alone and rest for a while.”

Worry punched Bucky in the gut. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Sarah offered him a pinched smile. “I’ll be fine. You two go on ahead, continue what—whatever you were do—ing—,” she broke off and started coughing again. She shuffled out of the room.

Bucky stared after her.

“She’ll be okay,” Steve reassured him.

Bucky’s worry returned to Steve.

Steve rolled his eyes and settled back against the headboard again. “I’ll be fine too. Can you continue your story, Buck?”

Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve and held him close for a long moment before continuing, just as the radiator kicked on. He spoke a little louder over the ticks and groans. “After they made it out a’ the part with the weird birds, they came to this rock shaped like an elephant. ‘Turn left here,’ the map said. ‘Forty paces north-by-northwest.’ They counted out, one… two… three… four…”

“Are you gonna count the entire forty paces?”

“…Five… six… seven…”

“Bucky!”

“…thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty. There, ya happy?”

Steve snorted and stuck out his tongue.

Bucky rolled his eyes and hugged Steve a little tighter. “Pace number forty brought ‘em to another cave. ‘Cept this one was a lot bigger than the last one, an’ seemed to be just one room. But there was no treasure anywhere, nor any place they coulda buried it. Just solid rock.

“’We’ve been bamboozled!’ said one a’ the crewmen. But Captain Roger wasn’t ready to give up. ‘There’s gotta be something,’ he insisted. He started feelin’ along the walls an’ told the others to do the same.

“After what seemed like forever, Barney found it—the switch. He pressed his hand on this rock in the wall, an’ it moved, easy as butter. There was a grinding noise an’ a huge rock rolled to the side, revealin’ a doorway, behind which was this pitch-black passageway. ‘Ladies first,’ he said to the Captain, who just rolled his eyes. They had to go on one at a time. Barney ended up goin’ first, because if anything was gonna hurt anyone along the way, it oughtta be him an’ not Captain Roger.”

If Bucky had seen the way Steve looked at him in that moment, he’d have known just how much his fictitious character would have objected to that sentiment. But Bucky was staring out the window, even though it was impossible to see out of.

Bucky held Steve a little tighter, as though he could protect him from whatever unseen dangers lay within his story. “Barney held his torch out in front a’ him like a sword, ready to fight off anything. But aside from the passageway being long and dark, there didn’t seem to be any danger. Till they got out of it, that is. ‘Cause they found themselves in this huge cavern, with this really high ceiling-,” Bucky demonstrated with his arms briefly before holding Steve again “an’ the inside of the cavern was _piled_ with gold. Doubloons an’ rubies an’ sapphires an’ all sortsa things made outta gold, all sittin’ in huge pretty piles glittering in the torchlight. The pirates were all ready to start scooping up treasure an’ taking it with them when they heard this weird noise overhead. Barney froze and looked up. Cap heard it too.

“Hangin’ from the huge rock ceiling were multi-colored _bats._ Pink ones an’ purple ones an’ orange an’ red, all with weird colored eyes, just like the birds an’ the mermaids. The bats opened their wings one by one and swooped down at the pirates, screeching so loud the pirates thought this time for _sure_ they were gonna go deaf! They threw their arms up over their heads but the bats just kept swooping and screeching an’ biting at the pirates. They had no choice but to battle ‘em with their swords.

“’Go for the wings!’ Captain Roger said. He’d already downed a huge turquoise bat an’ a huge magenta bat. He was workin’ on a lime green one. The other two flopped and bled uselessly on the piles of treasure, screeching out in this heartbreaking tone that was even more painful than the attacking ones.

“Barney was really good with a sword, so he got down six bats in no time. ‘Is it just me,’ he said, ‘Or are these bats a lot like those mermaids?’

“’And the birds?’ the Captain added, wiping blood off his sword, having downed the last bat. ‘Yeah, I noticed that too.’

“’Do you think…?’ Barney asked, sheathing his own sword.

“’Maybe,’ Captain Roger agreed. ‘Only one way to find out.’ He and the other pirates took as much treasure as they could carry and went outta the cave the way they came. They went back through the jungle- no birds this time- and followed the babbling brook, which was now quoting random lines from Shakespeare. They made it back to the shore. That chocolate-brown-haired mermaid from earlier was nowhere to be found.

“’Do you remember stabbing a brown-and-silver bat?’ the Captain asked.

“’No. Do you?’

“Right about that moment, there was this really eerie scream. Several startled birds flew out of a distant tree.

“’Let’s get out of here,’ urged a terrified crewmate. The pirates hurried back to their ship and started back towards the cove. Whatever-it-was screamed again, closer this time. All the hairs stood up on the back a’ Barney’s neck. ‘What _is_ that?’

“He didn’t have to wait for long to find out—the moment they entered the narrow strait between the rocky cliffs an’ tried to steer past the whirlpool, a huge silver-and-brown dragon came flying towards them, mouth open and full of needle-sharp teeth, screaming. Its eyes were redder than the devil himself.” Bucky wasn’t sure if he believed in the devil, but he knew this detail would scare Steve. He was right—Steve clutched closer. He could feel Steve’s heart pounding. Bucky wanted to comfort Steve as much as he wanted to build up the suspense. “The dragon breathed fire down at the ship, just missing the topsail. The passage was too narrow for the dragon to fit in.

“But once they were in the cove, where there were no more mermaids, they saw the other dragon: all teal and gold, with eyes blue like the middle of a flame on a candle, waiting for them, blocking the exit. The gold and silver dragons flew around each other, breathing fire at the ship until all of its sails had burned down. Captain Roger ordered his archers to fire at the dragons, but the arrows were useless against their thick, scaly skin.

“Captain Roger wouldn’t give up though. He ordered his crew to ready the cannons. The dragons swooped and screamed, dancing through the air with their huge wings spread, breathing fire at the ship before swooping away again. The ship was far too damaged to go out to sea; Captain Roger hoped he could stop them before they damaged it beyond repair. ‘Ready…’ he ordered the cannons. ‘Aim…’ he pointed which direction to aim the cannons. The dragons started swooping in together, ready to burn the ship in one last round of fire. ‘Fire!’ The cannonballs hit the dragons, knocking them into the water, unconscious. They sank below the surface and out of sight.

“The crew cheered. ‘It’s not over yet,’ the Captain warned. They were forced to beach their ship in the harbor and spend the night on the island, patching their sails. The crew was relaxed, but Captain Roger was tense, watching and listening for any hint of the returning foe.

“Barney sat next to him in front of the bonfire and clapped a hand on his shoulder. ‘It’s all right, Roger,’ he said, ‘We got ‘em.’

“The Captain wasn’t so sure. –Are you all right, Stevie? …Stevie?”

Steve had slumped against Bucky and was breathing evenly, lungs rattling with each inhale.

Bucky smiled at his friend and kissed him on the forehead. “Good night, Stevie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky knows Steve is color-blind, but he and Steve like to imagine that he can see all the colors anyway.
> 
> Feel free to request topics for more bedtime stories/ mini-AUs. Who knows, maybe I'll write 'em.


End file.
